Red serpents cross glass tongues, the riddle
of the one­-winged swan. All the days know

when to sleep.

III

The ten moons of Etz haChayim
—night’s purpling sphere,

a continuum

—on time’s nude hand, wrinkled
in pulse, the map

of an opulent world, once.

IV

A hermit dismantles Saturnian charms
by an empty river, breaks bread

with a lemon­-colored turtle, belly-­up—

paper for the bloodless beast.

V

Tiny daemons sail on white clay.
A thousand suns unbutton

plum­-colored sky.
A wishbone in seawater

deaf as teeth.

VI

Hour: The long man who fades into stone
often seen holding an ennead of damp iris.

Time: A woman holding a black umbrella,
often seen kneeling in ivy.

Eternity: A blue nest of gold leaves,
aflame in the light of the once-­was.

VII

Tadpoles hatch in a bottom-­fire, a telestic
lamp—Cerulean: A holy color, wet—

the seventh lotus sinks.

VIII

A cathedral of splintered mushrooms—collect.

A pear rots on steps stained with obedience.

IX

Thumb on bark—the Gatherer,
the elephant & the blind man

unfold into hundred­-handed
light.

X

God: A large metal cube on sand,
rinsed in milk—a place of finding.

god: The river that flows four ways.

Jay Sheets studies Mythopoetics at Goddard College in Vermont and is a Poetry Editor for the literary journal, Duende. His work has appeared in Hermeneutic Chaos, Aleola, Sundog Lit, Albion Review, and The Light Ekphrastic. Sheets lives in Plymouth, Mass. www.jaysheets.com

#finalpoem from Jay Sheets was last modified: November 29th, 2015 by CCM-Entropy

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